#pacset

We’re having a huge sale today, so please go check that out! Seriously guys, this is the biggest one we’ve ever done. Go get it! :D Alrighty, on to this week’s main story...

MUCH ADO ABOUT DOGEN

I’d like to talk about balls. No, not the sports ones. The kind that are metaphorical, the kind that you have when you stand up for what’s right in the face of intense opposition. I mean, think about it: there’s stuff that takes courage, and there’s stuff that takes balls. Asking someone out to prom? Courage. Telling a Firefly fan to let it go, since Fox canceled their show fifteen years ago? That’s courage with a little bit of balls. Standing up to the bully ten times your size? That’s balls. 

Bringing your baby to work with you when you’re a politician in one of the most male-dominated societies in the world? That’s more balls than you’ll find at a basketball tournament. [Washington Post]

Image courtesy Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images

Just look at this picture. Words fail me. Here, check out the video:

This is Kumamoto City Representative and certified bad ass mama Ogata Yuka and her son Dogen, who has a very nice hairstyle going for someone who’s only seven months old. She made the “mistake” of bringing her son to work with her, which resulted in many male members of the chamber crowding around her and demanding she leave - with some of them even demanding she apologize for doing so (even though Dogen was being a good boy and not making any noise).

According to her official bio, Ogata is a graduate of the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and holds a graduate degree from George Mason University in Virginia. She’s also worked as a program officer with the UN’s Development Program in Yemen, which I imagine is not the UN’s easiest mission. After moving back to her hometown, Ogata became interested in local politics and ran on a campaign emphasizing support for working mothers, traffic/pedestrian safety, public health and welfare, and promoting tourism to Kumamoto. [Editor’s note: we’re working on a tour pitch or two, Ogata-shigi!- Team PacSet]

Fun fact: Ogata was elected when her first child was just 1 year old, and the day she brought Dogen to work was her first day back from maternity leave. Now personally, I would have appreciated a “Welcome Back” cake, a balloon bouquet... maybe some of Kumamoto’s famous Ikinari Dango* with a nice message written on it? Like this?

But hey, I guess a bunch of old dudes being rude is kind of like a welcome. I mean, isn’t that how the bullies welcome the nerds back to class in all of those teen movies? Sorry, I digress.

Although child care is provided in municipal assemblies in Kyoto and Akita (as the WaPo points out), Kumamoto’s model male citizens decided to get their pantsu in a bunch over this, eventually forcing Ogata to leave Dogen in the care of a friend before returning to the chamber. 

In a statement, Ogata said that she wanted to bring attention to the tough conditions facing working women in Japan. She’s not wrong; numerous  [Bloomberg/Benchmark] articles [Japan Times] have been written about Japan’s shortage in adequate day care facilities and how hard it is for women in the workforce. In fact, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has cited making the working world more friendly to women a priority, since Japan’s birthrate is declining and the benefits of being a mother are not all that attractive if you want to have a career/support a family in Japan. However, apparently Abe forgot to mention this to fellow LDP member and “guy at the pachinko parlor” Haraguchi Ryoji, who said that Ogata could be “subject to punishment for disturbing the chamber over a personal reason.” [Mainichi Shimbun] Which I guess I understand... I mean, I bet no one in the LDP has ever been in a scandal for personal reasons, right? (Fun game: Google “LDP Scandals” and see how many you can find in 10 minutes!)

The truth is that there is still a cultural stigma against working mothers in many social circles in Japan. Not too long ago, having a baby meant a women would leave work altogether and focus their entire lives on child rearing. Even today, mothers that go against the grain are often harassed by other mothers and people who aren’t parents at all but have so many opinions. Which is probably one of the reasons why Japan’s fleet of online trolls have since invaded Ogata’s Facebook page and are tweeting nasty replies to English language stories about her. Nice of them, isn’t it? 

Regardless, we hope that Ogata-shigi keeps fighting for working women, that we are able to create the best Kumamoto tour EVER, and that Dogen can keep that clean, awesome looking hair forever. <3 Speaking of clean...

I’LL HAVE A WASH AND DRY WITH THAT YAKITORI

If you have traveled with us, you know how tough it can be to find coin laundromats in Japan sometimes. Fortunately, the effort to make them more common just got a massive (and I mean massive) push from a somewhat surprising source: convenience store (conbini) chain Family Mart. (LINE NEWS)

That’s right - one of Japan’s biggest conbini chains, the place where you get a meat bun when you’re hungry, a manga volume when you’re bored, and a Pocari Sweat when you’re drunk, is installing coin laundry! According to an official statement, the company is planning on rolling out the service quickly, with laundry popping up in at least 500 locations by the end of 2019. [Family Mart]

I’ll level with you guys: I’m trying to think of a negative angle to this story, and you know... there just isn’t one. The thought of being able to wash my clothes during FanFest while eating a lemon ice, buying breakfast onigiri for the next morning, and browsing the latest Shonen Sunday? What did I do to deserve this kind of joy?!?!?!?!

The best part? Because the competition between conbini chains in Japan is such a bloodbath, it probably won’t be too long before Lawson or Seven Eleven decides to try out Coin Laundry as well. Japan in the summer is all kinds of humid - keeping it clean is a concept I can definitely get behind.

TAKA IS NOT [ONE] OK [ROCK] WITH SMAP... KINDA

One guy isn’t keeping it clean this week in the world of gossip; ONE OK ROCK front man Taka sent shockwaves across the Japanese interwebs this weekend when he dissed recently disbanded J-Pop royalty SMAP during an appearance on Super Beaver singer Shibuya Ryuuta’s radio show late Thursday night. Although both of their bands specialize in rock and not the kind of J-Pop sound SMAP embodies, the two were discussing which song from the band they like most. Taka’s selection? SMAP’s 1993 single “Ten Dollars”:

This is a somewhat deep cut from the SMAP catalogue; it’s from when the group still had six members, and it wasn’t nearly as popular as SMAP’s turn-of-the-millenia hits Lionheart and Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Everyone in Japan has heard this song twenty million times oh god please make it stop**. 

After the song played, Taka voiced a sentiment that many indie rockers, rappers, and artists in Japan have long thought but always been scared to say. SMAP is... eh. From the man’s own mouth: [Model Press]

“Actually, I hate them, really. I hate SMAP. They’re like Japan’s national group,” said Taka. He’s not exactly wrong; SMAP’s TV show was one of the view where western stars appeared regularly, and even Eric Clapton wrote a song for them. Yes, ERIC CLAPTON. Taka, probably realizing that the internet could twist such a comment out of control quickly, added: “No matter which group you’re in, whether you’re an idol, a superstar... we’re all just human... Being in a group like that shouldn’t be your WHOLE life - that’s tiring. So when I heard SMAP was disbanding, I was thinking, ‘Wow, they really worked hard to come this far...’” I can’t help but agree with Taka myself; to have a group be your entire life until you’re alone again - that’s truly a Mighty Long Fall.

Taka’s comments were also a reflection of the public’s sadness when SMAP disbanded - so much so that many thought the group should keep going. Indeed, artists in Japan that are popular are expected to devote their lives to their work to a degree that many in the west would consider horrifying (just ask any former idol star... ugh). For what it’s worth, many on Twitter and message boards in Japan agreed with Taka on this point. 

Now if some of those nice, sympathetic folks would go help support Ogata Yuka... that would be awesome. 

NOTE: I’m off on Japan Holiday next week, so this column will be on hiatus. We’ll be back in a few weeks with more goodies. Until then, be lovely to each other!

*About the Dango: The popular YouTube series Cooking With Dog (RIP, Francis ;_;) actually did a segment on how to make Ikinari Dango; check it out! We miss you, Francis the Dog... <3

At SacAnime!!

I'm back from two tours - Kyushu and Hokkaido respectively - and man oh man, I missed being able to chat with/yell at you guys about the news. Speaking of yelling, since we were in Japan before the election, we got to listen to people standing on trucks speaking into megaphones to convince one another of their respective points of view! If you don't know what I'm talking about, this is how people promote their political views in Japan:

Honestly, I used to hate hearing old dudes standing on trucks during election time (especially when they drove by my apartment at SEVEN IN THE MORNING), but now I can only think of it as a marked improvement over the constant deluge of internet-fueled sadness we have here in the states. So the election happened, and surprise surprise, the LDP won again . While many voters are still skeptical of the LDP's efforts to prop up the economy and potentially revise Japan's peacetime constitution , most reporters and observers point to the LDP's track record for national defense and a steady hand in the face of North Korea as the main reasons they trounced the competition. So congrats, Shinzo Abe! Here's your reward:

Osaka is a funky town. Renown for it's vibrant people, comedy, middle-aged women in animal print, nightlife, and yes, FOOD. The most representative of Osaka cuisine is Okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancake) and Takoyaki (fried octopus balls.) Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki shop options are ENDLESS. Okonomiyaki-"Okonomi" literally means  "to your liking" and "yaki" is "grilled".  Latter half of Animated Spring 2017 was spent in Kansai, and since we were back in Osaka, my old stomping grounds, I really wanted to go back to the Okonomiyaki chain that I really enjoyed going to back in the day. I went to Fugetsu with a few of the tour goers to find that some of the other people from our group had decided to dine there as well. Very coincidental! :) I was at a table with non-fussy eaters, and we decided to order the "Fugetsu Special" and tonpeiyaki. “Fugetsu Special” is a mouthwatering combination of squid, pork, beef, and shrimp. Tonpeiyaki? It's a plate of egg yumminess. We didn't just get a regular tonpeiyaki. We upgraded and ordered the Mochi-Cheese Tonpeiyaki. Imagine an egg omelette, oozing with cheese and chewy mochi, and thin pork slices, topped off with mayo and green onions and bonito flakes. It was so immaculate, we had to order a second serving.

Lovely couple from our tour coincidentally seated at the table next to ours.

Mochi Cheese Tonpeiyaki!

Some places will allow you to cook the Okonomiyaki on your own, but I appreciate it when they servers whip it up in front of you, because it's cooked to perfection. When I was in the middle of writing this blog, I learned that there actually is a Fugetsu in CA, but in Northern CA. They should totally make one in LA!!!!

At a recent grocery shopping trip to the local Japanese market, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they sell Fugetsu Brand Okonomiyaki Mix. I had a sudden craving for Okonomiyaki and added the mix into my shopping cart. 

Using pork and shrimp and the Fugetsu Mix, I tried recreating the Osaka goodness in the comfort of my home...It was good, but not quite as good as the real thing. Guess it’s being IN Osaka that makes the difference. 

THREE TOURS AT ONCE?!?! And other questions you might have...

Hey guys!

We just launched six new tours, and we’re quite proud of them. Three of them happen to be running at the same time, which was noticed on Facebook within seconds of them hitting the internet. Why are we doing this? How is this possible?

The answer: We have more guides now, and we’ll all be running tours, including ones by ourselves, from here on out.

All about Animated Spring 2018, including those new hotel options, stuff we added, and much more...

YOU CHANGED THINGS! I liked Animated Spring the way it was!

Here at PacSet, we are big, big believers in the saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and to be honest, surveys indicate that our alums still love Animated Spring the way it is. To that end, the tour has all the same stops you’ve always loved.

What did change, however, was the popularity of the Tokyo-only version of the tour, as well as requests related to the hotels we do use. Animated Spring 2018 reflects our attempt to make a few adjustments to make all of our guests feel more comfortable during their time in Japan. We’ve added two new accommodation options and removed the paid “extras” that have been part of the tour since the very beginning. We’re pretty sure you’ll like the results!

Are you guys really having a livestream to discuss this stuff?

YUP. PacSet Periscope: The Q&A will be happening on both the PacSet Tours Periscope AND Facebook Live this Thursday, March 9 starting at 4PM PST (7PM Eastern). Follow “PacSet Tours” on any platform to watch! Tell your friends/cats/dogs/loved ones/cool people. <3

WHY DID YOU GET RID OF THE BASIC TOUR WITH THE HOTEL?

We did... and we didn’t. Allow me to explain:

Hi everyone! It’s Monday, the sun is out (in Southern California at least), we’re three days away from the next tour on our schedule – it’s a good week here at PacSet. Oh, and we launched a new website. Welcome to PacSet 3.0, guys! We’re also starting a new blog this week, and every Monday, I’ll be here to talk about the news in Japan. The column is called…

Questions about our third Taste of Japan Tour? Read on for answers!

Why Tohoku and Hokkaido? The other Taste of Japan is in the center of Japan!

After the success of our first two Taste of Japan tours, it wasn’t long before we got requests to run food tours to other destinations. While we could have picked anywhere in Japan and done a food-centric tour (and believe me, we are still hoping to!), every person we’ve taken to Hokkaido on tours like Soul of Autumn, Fire and Ice and the Anime De-Tour have marveled at how awesome the food is there - so putting things together this way was kind of a no-brainer.

Two other factors led to the selection of Hokkaido. First, this tour is in the summer, and unlike the rest of Japan, Hokkaido is a little cooler. Any time we can run a tour in the summertime and avoid Japan’s legendary humidity, we take it. :D Second: we did consider Kyushu and Western Japan, but there are some tours coming up in late 2018 for those spots (wink, wink), so that sealed the deal.

What made you guys pick these specific spots for a food tour?

To be honest, if we were to eat every wonderful thing and local cuisine in Tohoku and Hokkaido, we would do it - but I’m not allowed to design tours that last for two months (although we did consider it. How does the name “Eat All of Northern Japan” sound?). ^_^

Seriously though - deciding where to visit on this tour was HARD. For both Tohoku and Hokkaido, we decided to focus on spots that we haven’t hit yet that have really good food, hence the addition of spots like Lake Toya, Hiraizumi and Morioka. Second, we decided to turn the focus of the tour more towards places where we not only try the food, but get to interact with people and make friends as much as possible; this is why the tour includes BBQ in Sapporo, The Common in Ishinomaki and the Hakodate Port Festival. Summer in the North is all about hanging out and experiencing Japan’s legendary hospitality, and we wouldn’t do it any other way.

Does this mean that the usual Taste of Japan is going away? Or does it mean that we’ll be seeing food tours all over Japan in the future?